OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List Issue 151 *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 151 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Bio History -- Know Your Ohio ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <15a001bfb589$b9570c60$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio History -- Know Your Ohio -- Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah. [3] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- Contributed fr us in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley. ****************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio Know your Ohio. by Darlene E.Kelley ****************************************************** Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah -- " The Shawnee War Chief." -- Part 3 . Records; The incident of the spectacular meteor which appeared and passed across the Heavens in a searing greenish white flash on Wednesday night March 9, 1768, was witnessed by many. It disappeared below the horizon in the Southwest and was witnessed by many Indian tribes as well as being visible over the St Lawrence River and passed southeastward in an approximate line, over Quebec, Montreal, Lake Ontario, Buffalo, Northeastern and South Central Lake Erie, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and Memphis and burned out before reaching Houston. Metorite reports were recorded in Newspapers, Periodicals, journels, diaries and correspondence of witnesses to the event. The record states that this did occur on Wednesday night, March 9, 1758. So we can assume that Tecumseh's birth was on this date. ****************************************************** The Unsoma-- The Unsoma, explained simplistically, is sort of a good luck symbol by which the individual is guided and blessed thoughout his or her life. More definitively explained, it is sort of intramural social symbol within the tribe only. By Shawnee traditional belief, the unsoma is the good genius of an attendant spirit, which is animal in form, but which may be represented by some other significant sign --as in the case of the meteor of Tecumseh's birth, which is traditionally the Panther. This unsoma is represented, in one way or another, in the name ultimately given to the child. There are six basic divisions of unsoma which are ; 1-- the horseman, the group comprised of all animals with hooves; 2-- rabbit-man, comprised of rabbits, hares, squirrels, mice, chipmunks, and similar animals. 3-- the turtle-man, comprised of all forms of turtles and tortoises and sometimes lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, and allied creatures; 4-- the bird-man, comprised of all feathered creatures; 5--the bear-man, comprised of all animals with oblong feet, such as bears, raccoons, opossums, skunks, mink, otters, and other such creatures.; 6--the cat-man, and including all round footed animals such as any members of the cat or dog families or other round footed species. This unsoma was Tecumseh's, and also his sister' s since it included the panther, also known as couger, puma, or mountain lion. Once an unsoma is etablished for an infant. it is the child's obligation, according to Shawnee custom, throughout the remainder of his life, to defend this good-luck genius against any and all disparagement occuring in social banter by those belonging to other unsoma divisions.and equally to defend all other persons belonging to the same unsoma. ***************************************************** Tecumseh's lineage -- 1-- Great-Grandfather --Opeththa. Opeththa is often spelled Opessa in the early documents. He was thirty two years old at the time he led his followers to the Illinois River and then into Ohio. 2--Grandfather -- Wawwaythi Little is recorded about the life of the father of Pucksinwah, except he was thirty years old at the time of Pucksinwah's birth which occurred at Pickawilly, located on the banks of the Great Miami River on the site of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio. He was also known by the names of Lawpkaway, Loyparcowah, and Opeththa's son. No information has been discovered relative to the identity of his wife, Pucksinwah's mother. 3-- Father -- Pucksinwah He was born at Pickawilly, Ohio, now the site of Piqua, Ohio, son of Wawwaythi. Married Methotasa, a cherokee Shawnee in May of 1755. He died in battle October 10,1774. He predicted his own death also the death of his son-in-law. Also gave birth to the first recorded triplet sons in the Shawnee Nation. Was a loving father and husband and cherished all young children as shown by adoption of children of white descent taken in battle, as shown below. A great Leader of his people and spiritually attuned to Manato, the Shawnee God. Mother-- Methotasa The first time Pucksinwah met Methotasa when he was a young man of 26, and was one of the best warriors in the tribe and had been chosen to lead a war party against the Cherokees living on the Shawnee River. This is where they met. Through Pucksinwah's skillful attack several Cherokee men had been killed and four taken captive along with a dozen women an children. Among these was a slim and very attractive girl of fifteen, who had been captured by Oshashqua --Muskrat-- the oldest of their war party, who discovered her hiding in a pile of furs that were being bound into bundles for transport. This was Methotasa -- A turtle laying her eggs in the Sand. The victorious Shawnees took their prisoners, as well as the furs and other village plunder to their well hidden camp. That evening the four captive Cherokee men were tortured to death by other warriors. But before this happening, Pucksinwah concerned especially for the terrified Methotasa, directed Oshashqua to take the women and children away from camp and return them the next morning. This was done and Picksinwah remained solicitous of her comfort and safety on the return to Ohio. Oshashqua was of the Peckuwe sept and after their arrival, Methotasa, as his captive, was taken by him to his own village of Piqua Town on the Mad River. There she was officially adopted by Oshashqua and his wife to take place of their son, who had been killed the year before. With this adoption she became part of the Kahgilaywilani-- the Turtle unsoma. Pucksinwah, could not forget the attractive girl and made occasional trips to see her. By the time she had been with the Shawnees just over a year, he was paying much attention to her and at the next feast dance in the spring of 1755, she signified her acceptance of him by shyly slipping her bare hand into his and they were soon married. ****************************************************** To be continued in part 4-- ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 01:28:01 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <15a201bfb589$bb23dd20$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio History -- Know your Ohio -- Tecumseh, Son Of Pucksinwah. [5] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- Contributed for Use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley. ****************************************************** Collections of Ohio Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley ***************************************************** Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah -- " The Shawnee War Chief," -- part 5. Blue Jacket -- Marmaduke Van Swearingen -- Tecumseh's adopted Brother. Marmaduke Van Swearingen was born on January 2, 1753, on a thousand acre farm in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. His parents were John and Katherine Stoll Swearingen, and he was the fourth son of fourteen children. The Swearington family were noted frontiersmen, traveling to Virginia, Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio. Growing up, Marmaduke had first hand account of the biased attitudes and experiences of the white settlers. At an early age, he seemed destined to breach the boundry between the settlers and the Shawnee. He had an intense curiousity about the Indian way of life. Their respect for the land and boldness engrossed him. Marmaduke trained himself to become a Shawnee, learning the Shawnee language from an old trapper, who lived among the Ohio Shawnee. Like many frontier youth, he became fond of the wild, and learned to hunt. He symphathized with the plight of the Native American with the encroachment of the whites. and often expresed his desire to live the Shawnee free life when he reached manhood In 1769, at the age of 17, while hunting in what is now West Virginia, with his younger brother Charles, they encountered a Shawnee hunting party. With his knowledge of the Shawnee language, it became useful in avoiding a fight. After talking for over an hour, it was arranged for Charles to return home unharmed if Marmaduke willingly accompanied the Shawnee to their tribe. Puckinsweh and Methotasa, took an immediate liking to this boy and to which he was initiated in the Shawnee. They soon adopted him and he was given the name, " Blue Jacket" derived from his blue jacket. He never lived within the white world again. Instead he became one of the most feared Shawnee warriors and, remarkably, one of the eight outstanding chieftains in Ohio history. He fit so well within the Shawnee Nation. He was about six feet high, and finely proportioned, stout, muscular; his eyes bright, large, and piercing; his forehead high and broad, intelligent, expressive of firmness and decision. He fit so well, he was never identified as a white man. His size, endurance, and intelligence helped him withstand the severe tests of the initiation into his Shawnee tribe. His enthusiasm, cheerfulness, and absolute loyalty made him very popular within his new family. The Shawnee were in Southeast Ohio when the first settlers arrived,and fiercely, defended their hunting ground. Blue Jacket flourished within the Shawnee Nation, contributing in the Councils and war campaigns from the beginning of his tribal occupancy and was made and named Chief of his tribe. A son of white settlers joining a people with extreme rage toward all white invaders seems incredible to us today. The connection reflects well on both participants, to finally to advance to be named a Chief is more remarkable, in that the Shawnee seldom or never permitted white prisoners to engage with or lead a war party, for fear of betrayal. Blue Jacket never hinted deception. Instead his reputation as a Shawnee warrior spread quickly throughout Ohio Valley. His first major battle occurred on October 10, 1774, at Point Pleasant, though he was only in his twenties, he served as second in command. Until 1795, Blue Jacket led his Shawnee people in a defensive war against the invading white man. During this time, his activities ranged from taking up the coat of a British Officer to various run-ins with the famous frontiersman. Daniel Boone. But with his respect for Boone and others understanding his Shawnee life, Blue Jacket's contempt for the American invasion grew. At a Governor's Council he was quoted as saying, "From all Quarters we receive speeches from the American, and no two alike. We suppose they intend to deceive us---" The most remarkable account of Blue Jackets's savageness as a warrior is at the Battle of St Clair in which he fought valiently. Ironically. a Van Swearingen was killed in battle. This was Blue Jacket's cousin, a captain of the American forces. The same motive which lead Blue Jacket to war, however,eventually led him to seek a peace with the American government. The good of his people was all important. After a staggering defeat as the commander at the battle of Fallen Timbers, Blue Jacket realized that American occupancy in Ohio was inevitable. He became an emissary to those tribes still hostile.. He even took up the blue coat of an American Officer and helped orchestrate the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, a bond between the Americans and the Indian people that lasted fifteen years. He then relinquished all leadership and retired to Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he died on June 26,1810. There is no evidence of Blue Jacket ever revealing his nativity to his adoptive people, nor is there any evidence of him returning to European life. He did, however, marry a white women named Margaret Moore, taken captive by the Shawnee at the age of nine. She and Blue Jacket had one son, Joseph, and one daughter, Nancy, before she returned to her native home in Virginia. But while the women he loved returned to the white world, Blue Jacket's heart remained with the Shawnee. He remarried the Indian " Clearwater Baby " and had many more children. Tecumseh and Blue Jacket became very close, and Tecumseh never did resent his brother. He throughly trusted him, and likewise Blue Jacket admired his brother, Tecumseh. Their companionship grew to overwelming proportions. Mourning for their father, Pucksinwah, was intense as Blue Jacket did feel he had become the Father, he so wanted. Both would obey his very command-- to love on another and look after each other, as they commanded the Shawnee Nation. ******************************************************To be continued in part 6-- ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #3 Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 01:18:42 -0400 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <159f01bfb589$b8a79280$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio History --Know Your Ohio -- Tecumseh, Son Of Pucksinwah. [2] Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley ***************************************************** Hitorical Collections of Ohio Know your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley **************************************************** Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah-- " The Shawnee War Chief". -- part 2. As he had done on many occasions since his early childhood, The Shawnee Chief Pucksinwah, was contiplating the multitude of stars sparkling in the sky with such beauty and life in the near cloudless and moonless sky awaiting the birth of the infant child. Along with him, was his 12 year old son, Chiksika, and 10 year old daughter, Tecumpese, along with half a dozen women of his clan who stayed behind to help in Methotasa's delivery. Only rarely was the stillness broken by a soft cry from within the hastily erected shelter beyond the fire where Methotasa --A-Turtle-laying-Her-Eggs-in-the-Sand, awaited delivery of her child. It would have been better had they been able to continue their journey to Chilicothe. The village was only three arrow flights to the northwest of them, but her time had come and further travel, however short, would have been dangerous to both the Infant and Methotasa. Though extremely anxious to reach this principal town of the Chalahgawtha sept, Pucksinwah neverless stayed behind along with his children, sending the remaider of his Kispokotha sept of the Shawnees, on to the village with word of his whereabouts and his promise to appear on the morrow at the large (msi-kah-mi-qui), council house. Nearly 600 strong, these followers of his represented about two-thirds of the population of Kispoko Town on the west bank of the Scita River. Simular groups from the other four Shawnee septs were also converging for this highly important council at Chillicothe. For over five years tribal representatives had been meeting there at intervals in an effort to decide what the Shawnees, as a nation, must do about the white man who, despite those treaties forbidding it, was crossing the mountains to the east and spilling into the valleys of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny and Allegheny. Although the Shawnee septs were individual entities and governed themselves, each was an important branch of the Shawnee tribe as a whole, and each had a distinct office or duty to perform for the benifit of the tribe. The Peckuwe sept for instance, had charge of the maintenance of order or duty, and looked after the celebration of matters pertaining to Shawnee religion. It was to this sept that Methotasa had belonged before Pucksinwah had taken her for his wife, nearly 15 years ago. The Maykujay clan controlled matters pertaining to health, medicine and food. The Kispokotha sept, on the other hand, was in charge of warfare, including the preparation and training of warriors. But the two most powerful septs were the Thawegila and Chalahgawtha, which had charge of al things political and all matters affecting the entire tribe. These two septs were equal in power,and from one of them the princpal Chief of the Shawnees had to come. The chiefs of the other septs were subordinate to the principal chief in all matters of importance to the tribe, but, in circumstances pertaining to their own jurisdiction, they were independant chiefs. The Thawegila, Kispokotha and Peckuwe septs were closely related morally and politically, while the Maykujay and Chalahgawtha septs always stood together, as they had in times past during occasional instances of tribal dissension. So it is now in this problem of the encroachment of the whites. It was such a serious problem that strong lines of dissension had formed which threatened to cause a permanent breach in the Nation; at least so it was feared by the principal chief, Hokolesqua -- Cornstalk --a Chalahgawtha Shawnee. His sept and the Maykujays took the stand that " we had better make peace with the white people, as they outnumber us and are increasing fast. It seems Moneto --God --is with them. Let us make peace with them and be always in peace wih them." " No!" said the Thawegila, Kispokotha and Peckuwe chiefs. " Let us not make peace with the white people. Let us fight them until one or the other of us is destroyed to the last man." Pucksinwah shook his head sadly. To every marrow of his bones he knew there could never be a true peace between whites and Indians. As surely as summer follows spring, the whites would not stop at the river valley of western Pennsylvannia. Inevitably they would spread down the Spay-lay-wi-theepi ---Ohio River-- to settle in the great and sacred hunting grounds of Can-tuc-kee. The Shawnees from the north and Cherokee from the south might share the bounty of that land below the great river, but no tribe-- nor white man--- must be permitted to take up permanent residence there. Had not over a century of friction between Indians and whites proven that nothing could be gained by talk of Peace? When treaties had been signed and boundaries established in the past, had not these whites treated the Indians with unfeigned loathing, and had they not broken the boundaries almost imediately after they were established? This is why the current Council at the Little Miami River village of Chillicothe was so important to Pucksinwah. Largest of the Shawnee towns, it was centrally located to all the septs and more than 5000 Shawnee men wuld be on hand. And this time it would be his turn to speak without interruption in the Council House. He would pray to Moneto to bring powerful words to his lips that he might convince the Chalahgawtha and Maykujay septs that there could never exist an suitable peace between Indians and whites. He raised his eyes skyward, but the prayer died aborning as a huge meteor suddenly plunged into the atmosphere and burst into brilliant greenish-white flame. It streaked across the heavens from the north in an awe-inspiring spectacle which lasted fully twenty seconds Pucksinwah had heard of such occurrences, but not before had he seen anyting so breathtaking as this, and the tales of the old people came back to him now; this shooting star was The Panther, a great spirit passing over to the south where it seeks a.deep hole for sleep. Every night it passes somewhere on the earth to go home in the south. It was a good sign indeed, and Pucksinwah arose and briskly to the fire where the women were clustered, chattering excitedly, for they too had seen it. From within the temporary shelter came the sharp wail of a baby. Pucksinwah waited quietly, the murmur of voices from inside almost lost in the gurgle of water from the great bubbling spring besides the shelter. Soon the infant's crying faded away, and a quarter hour later one of the women came out, beckoned to the Chief, and happily told him he had a son. Pucksinwah stooped to enter the shelter and the three women inside, giggling delightedly, left to join the others at the fire. Methotasa lay on the bedding of cedar boughs covered with a huge buffalo hide, the even softer hide of a deer covering her to the waist. In the crook of her arm slept the newborn child, his skin glistening faintly with a protective coating of bear oil applied by the squaws. Methotasa smiled up at Pucksinwah as he knelt to look at the baby. She told him that the other women had seen a great star, The Panther, passing across and searching for its home in the south. Pucksinwah nodded gravely, and told her it was the boy's unsoma. Shawnee custom declares that a boy baby is not named for ten days after his birth, nor a girl for twelve, during which time an unsoma -- notable event --would occur wic should indicate what Moneto wished the child to be called. But this time the sign had been given at the very moment of birth, and this was of great importance. Both Pucksinwah and Methotasa knew there could be no other name for this boy that being -- The-Panther-Passing-Across. Thus was born and named the Shawnee Indian known as Tecumseh. The day was March 9, 1768. ****************************************************** To be continued in part 3-- . -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V00 Issue #151 *******************************************